Oral assessments have begun this week in the LRC. Please note that when using the LRC you may see LRC assistants going through the rooms doing a variety of chores (if need be, we can remind them that they must not disturb classes and other user activities).

We have written a large number of procedural guides, check lists with spreadsheets and illustrated parts lists (linked below)to train 7 groups of experts (varying in size between 2-6) in how to regularly inventory, test and maintain functionality of LRC equipment and services:

1.Daily LRC walkthrough check

2.Weekly headset test

3.Weekly film equipment check

4.Weekly staff and equipment calendar check

5.Biweekly faculty equipment check

6.Film collection maintenance (work in progress)

7.Help desk supervising

Samples of issues that we hope to address this way:

a.You check out a headset for recording learning materials over the last weekend before classes start and do not want to find it broken.

b.Your students come to the LRC for a quiz assignment/distance educationand in the middle of it find the headset does not play audio while the timer/class is running.

c.You hold a recording class in the LRC and do not want to spend the first several more minutes – after the computers logged in – troubleshooting individual headsets that do not play or record.

d.Your students, when setting up film equipment fora film project (with location, actors/interviewees scheduled) have to find that the lights cannot stand essential since screws are missing.

e.Films cannot be located.

f.Etc.

I hope you will find experiencing fewer such issues a simplification in your interactions with the LRC .

You have already been emailed your portfolio pieces, like your students will be, by the LangLabEmailer.

Converting your recordings to a file for Question/Response exams will take a little longer, let me know if/when you would like to use it.

In addition, here are the workshop files:

my slide handout as PDF with clickable links (includes “Can do”- Statements aligned with the Common European Reference Framework for language proficiency levels, which can help operationalizing your ePortfolio strategy)

my slide deck embedded:

my slide deck as a downloadable PowerPoint show: you can click through the animations at your own speed, view the animated GIFs, and listen (or jump over!) to my full presentation narration (both as of yet not supported in PowerPoint Web App)

a screencast of the back stage view (Sanako tutor mostly), full HD resolution (big, but streaming), with complete uninterrupted (and unedited! please fast forward manually through the hands-on parts) audio . To facilitate your navigation, here is a table of contents :

Your students can also use speech recognition (in English, French, German, Japanese, Mandarin, and Spanish), e.g. for dictation exercises (Example videos: very bad French, decent German). Students can train the computers to their voice and take their training data with them. I’d love to explore with you possibilities for pronunciation practice with automated intelligent feedback .

Your students can use old and new MS-Office Proofing tools.

Caveat: W are still trying to restore some former functionality (e.g. no Google Arabic, Farsi and Russian IME etc.). Please bear with us while we deal with the new college tech infrastructure.

The LRC has upgraded its Sanako digital audio lab software.

Because of budgetary constraints, our software agreement had to end with version 5 . This summer, the vendor presented us with a free upgrade to version 7, with compliments for my blog posts about using the Sanako.

Benefits: We decided to implement the upgrade lest you and your students need relearn in the middle of the academic year and since Version 7 adds valuable language learning : which I would love to explore with you: Vocabulary exercises and Pronunciation exercises which make use of the computerized text-to-speech capabilities we just implemented with windows 7

Caveats:

We are still trying to restore the old Sanako configuration. E.g. Pairing recording is not working currently.

I hope to upgrade my LanglabEmailer software to support the new version after the term is underway.

UNCC is upgrading to Moodle 2. The CTL is investigating how the LRC Metacourses for audio materials I created can be converted to Moodle 2. If you need the audio materials from the metacourses, we can help you upload them into your individual courses temporarily.

Classroom AV: We found a temporary workaround for the projector image quality and are investigating permanent solutions. Currently no VHS video and doc cam display during classes (we would love to scan your text anyway and distribute them digitally).

We added new calendars to the Quicklinks on LRC home page : Tutors and LRC assistants. Please keep checking how we fill these open positions over the next few weeks, and use the help they can offer you.

I will continue next week with the biweekly Sanako Clinic to aid teachers with their LRC class preparation. Please consult the LRC calendar if you want to drop in, or reschedule one with me for your needs.

I am also offering LRC introductions for your class during the week 2 and 3 on a “first-come, first-served” basis, and à la carte (I suggest consulting a one-sheet menu with an overview of LRC facilities that I am preparing.) Please let me know if you are interested.

Would you like to expose your student to L2 listening materials beyond the audio learning materials that come with your textbook?

Materials customized to the learning needs of your classes? From current affairs maybe?

Would you prefer no to send them to internet audio that may be difficult and time consuming to integrate?

Do you lack the time to record speaking cues, oral exam questions or reading models yourself?

Do you need audio files that you and your students can rewind/fast forward/replay, edit and record into with voice insert?

And would you prefer using audio in your classes that comes with aligned text, whether that audio that has been transcribed or vice versa, to create glossaries, captions, multimedia assignments?

The LRC now offers generating audio files from your foreign language texts in many languages.

The service is based on the quality voices of Google Translate text-to-speech (better (simpler) than its actual translation portion, let alone its naïve use).

Unlike Google translate, the service persists longer than 100 character texts to audio files (mp3) that (and the underlying digital text) we can work with further, in your syllabus, the LMS and the digital audio lab.